Shikamaru's promise
by Otter4242
Summary: It was the promise Shikamaru made to his dying mentor, that he would protect her, his only child, he took her under his wing teaching her everything there was to being a ninja, there was only one thing he didn't expect, how did this little girl become the center of his whole life? One-shot, maybe more to come


"What a drag," The girl said after exiting the academy. She put her hands behind her head as she walked taking interest in nothing as she stared up at the clouds. The girl heard a few meters away a few teachers looking for her. Sighing she jumped up to a tree limb, and then jumped towards the roof. She landed on it, but quickly lost her balance and fell on her back. It seemed everyday was like this. She ran from class and spent the day up on the roof watching the clouds. She wasn't the only kid who cut class. A few of her friends cut class as well, but none wanted to spend it practically doing nothing. Instead they were at the training grounds practicing. They would get caught since everybody who cut class went there. The teachers weren't stupid. They knew they were there.

"Shouldn't you be in class?" A voice asked across from her. She tilted her head up to see an young adult there with spiky black hair and a plain mesh shirt with black cargo pants. It was his lazy day outfit, meaning he wasn't on duty at the moment.

"Too boring, I know all the answers." She said closing her eyes lazily. He went over and stood over her. Shikamaru looked at his apprentice. True, she wasn't a ninja yet. She wasn't even a gunin. The girl had long black hair with silver tips that she dyed that color just to be rebellious. She wore simple silver hoop earrings that Shikamaru gave her as her first pair. Her casual attire is a dark silver hoodie with black and blue shorts. She wore blue sandals like most other kids her age.

"Why don't you just skip ahead then?" He asked her.

"I don't want to leave my friends." She admitted leaning up.

"How troublesome," He said rubbing his head.

"I know it's a drag." The girl said standing up now. Shikamaru smiled at that saying. He had to admit she probably picked it up from him. He hadn't said it in a long time, and eventually just adopted the saying, 'how troublesome.'

"So what are you going to do now?" He asked. He officially caught her, and she knew when to give up. But instead she gave a smirk something that reminded him of her father, Asuma.

"Train," and suddenly there was a poof of smoke and she was gone. He raised his eyebrows. He had expected her to give up. She did the past few times. She wasn't as lazy as he was. If that was him at her age. He would have told himself that he would go to class since it took more effort .

"That girl's going to be the death of me." Shikamaru said with a sigh. Truth was he didn't like girls, they were manipulating, and so, so troublesome. Yet this kid seemed to enter this life and it felt like he revolved around her now. Spending his free time helping her train, treating her to dinner, and just being there for her. It was his fault though. When he made a promise that he would mentor Asuma's child to help them be cool like their father. He didn't know it was a daughter though. He really expected the child to be a boy. Yet here she was and now he wouldn't have it any other way. Just standing here he wondered what he was going to do. He saw her running behind the trees heading towards the training grounds, which she complained about being a dumb hiding place. He grinned at the girl that somehow became his best friend.

* * *

Asuka arrived at the training grounds as he best friends Naruko and Haruko showed up. They were twins, one a boy, one a girl. One had dark blue hair, and the other had bright orange. They were also complete opposites. Naruko was shy like her mother and looked just like her father, and Haruko acted outgoing and loud like their father and looked just like his mother. Asuka often broke up their arguments because it was 'too loud' and disturbed her naps.

"ASUKA!" Naruko yelled running up to her best friend. "Haruko is bullying me again!" She gripped Asuka's shirt and hid behind her like she usually did.

"I was not! You were being a wimp again!" Haruko yelled at her. "Asuka, you gotta trust me on this one. I wasn't bullying her I promise. She's just too soft."

"Seems like I have two sides here." Asuka said looking at the both of them. She liked to be a fair judge to the both of them. She looked at Toya, a boy with short blonde hair who always drew. He had random mood swings one moment calm and collected, and then he would be angry and sly. Right now he was calm and drawing a picture of a kunai. He honestly looked more like his mother Ino, although he acted both like her and Sai.

"It was Haruko's fault like always." Toya said with a sigh. "When isn't it?"

"Don't make me use my byakugan on you!" He yelled. Like his mother he inherited the gift through his family line. Although Naruko had byakugan she could barely use it for only a few seconds.

"You know the punishment for bullying Haruko." Asuka said with a frown. Haruko froze a panicked look spread across his face. He was quickly shaking his head and looking around for how he was going to escape.

Lola popped up though a grin spreading across her face as she quickly grabbed him from behind. Lola was mute, and couldn't talk but usually used her bugs to spell out words in the air like she learned from her father Shino. And wherever Lola was Amaru was not far behind. A girl with wolf ears and tail. She was deemed weird when she was born with the wolf-like features, but showing kindness and extreme loyalty she becomes friends with practically everyone she meets. Somehow Lola earned Amaru's loyalty and she follows Lola around like some lost puppy.

"Get the rope Naruko." Asuka said beginning to walk forward Haruko and Lola. They both grabbed his arms and dragged him over to the pole and tied him to it. It was a punishment Kakashi had shown them to be most effective especially when dealing with Haruko.

Amaru sat on top of the pole chewing on a lollipop. Her long brown hair in two piggy-tails. Her wolf ears perked up with happiness. "So what are we going to do now?" She asked swinging her feet.

"I'm going back to school. See you guys later." Asuka said waving as she walked away with her hands in her pockets.

"Ah you're no fun!" Amaru said as Naruko giggled. Asuka grinned and kept walking. She shouldn't tell them that there was an important test in about thirty minutes. They should learn that lesson themselves. Keeping these devious thoughts in her head she walked to school.

* * *

"YOU TWO ARE THE ONLY ONES THAT PASSED!" Iruka-sensei said to the two children that showed up. Marth and Asuka were the only two who actually showed up for the exam. Both got perfect scores, and showed signs of high intelligence. Marth had bright pink hair and a cool composure that made girls follow him constantly. Asuka was about a year older than everyone else but she started school late and made up for it. Asuka was punished for sneaking out, and had to put a pail of water on her head. Iruka left needed some 'cool off' time trying not to cry from all the misbehaving students.

Marth read a book on the other side of the classroom and Asuka watched him. He was always so silent and concentrated. He never seemed to laugh or smile. The closest he ever came to it was a smirk. He was just like his father… She knew Marth hated his father. After all he was a rogue, someone against the leaf village. Saskue Uchiha. Yet he took his mother's maiden name Haruno. His dark eyes scanned the pages lazily. Asuka guessed that he didn't like the book. She walked over to him not spilling a drop of water from the pail. Marth looked up from his book for a brief second. "You don't like it do you?" He didn't pay any attention to her words. "That's a drag." Asuka said looking a bit over his shoulder at the book, but as soon as she did he closed it with a 'thup.' He looked at her with those angry eyes and she wondered if he was capable of the famous sharingan. Hatred filled his eyes, and for some reason that didn't affect Asuka. Marth and Asuka stood there in a staring match when finally March blinked. "I win," She declared in a bored voice and turned and went back to her spot. Marth watched her go a bit in surprise. This girl… wasn't all over him like everyone else.

"What did I lose?" Marth asked in a low voice.

"Our staring contest," Asuka said with a yawn.

"I never agreed to that." March responded.

"Funny, you're the one that started it." Asuka said with a smirk. March found himself smiling a bit as he went and looked back down to the book.

"Ah, there it is!" Asuka said with a smile.

"What?" March asked looking back up from his book.

"The first smile I've ever seen you do." Asuka said still grinning. "Don't worry I won't tell anybody the cold, lone wolf smiled."

"Well we can't have that can we?" March trying to lose the smile, yet his mouth still tilted a bit upward.

"Nope, but don't worry. It'll be our secret." Asuka said to the boy. March nodded for once his eyes shine with a bit of happiness. It would be their secret.

* * *

"Shikamaru, we can't find Asuka." A ninja told the young man. Shikamaru stopped from his writing and his eyes grew a bit wide. What happened to his girl?

"What do you mean you can't find her?" He asked standing up. He was already in front of the ninja that told him the bad news.

"She left from the academy and never made it home." The ninja reported a bit scared of Shikamaru at the moment. Suddenly Shikamaru bolted past him running down the streets. Where did she go? He ran past the crowds knocking into people and pushing past other men. Shikamaru never felt real panic before. He usually stayed cool under pressure, but for some reason when it was her, he panicked.

He pushed his feet as fast as they would go. He felt a raindrop fall onto his head and he cursed. Rain would make this a whole lot harder. Why did it have to rain now? Shikamaru ran in the directions of the training ground, but not a single soul was there. It was completely empty and he wondered where she was. She wasn't at the academy, or at the training grounds. So where would she go?

He slowed down and his head fell as the rain begun to pour all over him. He was soaked down to his skin. He watched the rain droplets run off his arms and hands. _Asuma, help me, please._ He said silently to his mentor. He looked up in the sky and let the water fall onto his face. On a whim, he started walking south. Shikamaru didn't know why, but it felt right. Like he should have headed there the whole time. He started at a walk, then a jog and then he broke out running to this unknown direction. "_I'm so sorry Asuma,_" he whispered. He was trying to do his best, and yet his best didn't seem good enough. It never seemed good enough. Maybe if It weren't for him Asuma might have still been alive. _Why is my heart so broken? Why do I feel this way? _He asked himself as he ran.

Shikamaru tripped and fell in the dirt. He got up and started running again ignoring the scrapes on his knees and hands. He finally arrived at the ninja cemetery. "What am I doing here?" He asked himself. Why would a little girl go to the cemetery? He frowned. He shouldn't have followed that feeling. Now he was behind. He turned around ready to leave when he heard crying, Asuka's crying. He went into the cemetery looking around the aisles when he saw here. She was huddled in a little ball with her back to a slab of stone. Even though she was soaking wet you could see the tears streaming down her face. Shikamaru slowly walked up to her and kneeled by the girl. He was going to put his hand on her shoulder when she jumped up and staggered back, away from him.

"Don't touch me! Go, leave me alone!" She yelled at him and he looked back shocked at her and her response. "Just leave me alone." She said crying. He honestly had no idea what to say to that response. He never heard her talk like this to him before, and it hurt… bad. Why did those few words make his heart feel like it's been sliced into pieces? Yet he couldn't leave, because she was crying and he was supposed to take care of her, right? He needed to take care of her when she was hurt, or angry, or sad. No matter how she was it was his duty, no, his will to take care of this small girl that somehow became a big part of his life. "Why are you still here? I want to be alone." She said holding something tight in her hand. He realized what it was. It was one of Asuma's chakra blades. But how did she-?

"Asuka," he said her name sadly as she walked over to the slab of stone she was by.

"Go," She said softly now not screaming. She looked at her father's grave as her tears spilled down her soft cheeks. She held the chakra blade tighter around her knuckles. She turned back around and was pacing.

"Listen Asuka we need to go. Your mother's worried sick." Shikamaru said with a small smile touching his face. He was still crouching and was at her eye level.

"No! I'm not going to listen to you anymore! You're not my dad. SO STOP ACTING LIKE IT!" She yelled at him. She was swing the chakra blade in the air no, not at anyone's direction. Her anger was fueled up and yet she was crying and really sad. She was shaking and moving and not paying mind to anything. Shikamaru knew that he wouldn't be able to talk to her like this so he made a few quick hand signs and caught her in his Shadow Imitation technique. He walked closer to her and she was forced to walk closer to him. He could see her internally struggle against the technique, but he couldn't talk to her when she was running around like a lunatic.

"You're right Asuka. I'm not your dad. I'm not trying to be. Your dad was an amazing person, smart, funny and everything I wish I could be. He was my mentor, and sometimes he was like a second father to me. He saved my life so many times I lost count." He said and tears plopped down her cheeks. "He told me something before he died. He said "Take care of my 'king', and I knew he meant you." She was now crying, but couldn't move because of the jutsu. "Asuka your dad loved you even before you were born. I wouldn't even dare replace the spot he has in your heart." Shikamaru said. He frowned in the rain and released the jutsu. Asuka stood still looking down. Shikamaru wiped the tears with his hand and watched as she crumbled. She ran and threw her arms around his neck and cried into his shoulder. He put his arms around her holding her like an older brother would.

"I-I want him here so bad." She cried as the rain started letting up.

"Me too," he said closing his eyes.

"Thank you," she said letting go of his neck.

"For what?" He asked with a small smile looking into that little girl's eyes.

"For being here for me when nobody else was." She admitted. She sat next to him by her father's grave and rested against his side "Thank….you….nii-chan." She said as she trailed into a deep sleep. Tired from crying so much. Shikamaru smiled as for the first time tears streamed down his cheeks and the rain stopped. The sun came out and he felt Asuma smiling down on the both of them.


End file.
